I went on my way much touched by the kind interest which at last some
one had taken in my welfare. I said to myself: "If it should be the
last act of my life, I will perform my promise and sign it, even though
I die in the attempt, for that man has placed confidence in me, and on
that account I love him."
I then proceeded to a low groggery in Lincoln Square, and in the space
of half an hour drank several glasses of brandy; this in addition to
what I had taken before made me very drunk, and I staggered home as
well as I could.
Arrived there, I threw myself on the bed and lay in a state of
insensibility until morning. The first thing which occurred to my mind
on awaking was the promise I had made on the evening before, to sign
the pledge; and feeling, as I usually did on the morning succeeding a
drunken bout, wretched and desolate, I was almost sorry that I had
agreed to do so. My tongue was dry, my throat parched, my temples
throbbed as if they would burst, and I had a horrible burning feeling
in my stomach which almost maddened me, and I felt that I must have
some bitters or I should die. So I yielded to my appetite, which would
not be appeased, and repaired to the same hotel where I had squandered
away so many shillings before; there I drank three or four times, until
my nerves were a little strung, and then I went to work.
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